May 9, 2009

Oddly, what sold me on Fantasies was a song not even released on the album. "Waves", a bonus track, is pure poptastic awesomeness. When the giant falsetto hook of a chorus kicks in I can't help but making up new and obviously stylish dance moves on the spot. After that, the album just clicked. Similar to indie dance queen Annie, this album embraces new wave synthesizers and fun dance pop. While the guitars from her last few albums still provide propulsive riffs, they are significantly toned down and less crunchy. Although generally a fan of crunchy guitars, I find Fantasies' best songs irresistible. "Sick Muse" has another great chorus while "Satellite Mind" is spacy and cool. "Gimme Sympathy" poses the question "Who'd you rather be, the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?" over a easygoing beat and seems like an ode to lying around and listening to music with friends. Good times.